The Sheriff and The Hand
by bitchinginthewoods
Summary: The Sheriff of Piltover receives a surprise visit from someone she never expected, but when things start to go wrong, she is given help from the most unlikely of people. Rated T for language.
1. Chapter 1

It was the height of the summer, and the whole of Piltover was basking in the sun. For the past few weeks there had been next to no crimes – mainly because it was too hot to do anything. Caitlyn, the renowned sheriff of Piltover, was spending her days in the station yard, enjoying the sun and the lack of crime. Life couldn't be more bliss.

Except, she couldn't stop thinking about the battle she had been in yesterday. She didn't often think about past battles, unless they were truly great. Like the time she, Lux, Volibear, Ahri and Graves had been challenged by Malzahar, Jinx, Draven, Zyra and Shyvanna. The battle had been a long, tedious one, but they had prevailed. But that was for another family gathering, another party.

But this particular battle was bothering Caitlyn. She remembered it like one would remember an exceptional experience…

_Shit, shit, SHIT!_

Caitlyn ran as fast as she could go. Three of her teammates were at the other side of her pursuers. Ahri, Volibear and Miss Fortune were trying their best to help her, but where Darius was, she had no clue. There was no way she could handle this 5v1, but she tried anyway, firing out her abilities here and there. She saw she had managed to get Ezreal's health critically low. She took the chance, and used her ult, Ace in the Hole, and fired. Cait got the hit, and the kill. She had gained herself a moment of glory, before being bombarded by abilities from Cho'Gath and Cassiopeia.

_This is it_

Caitlyn tried to run from the attack, laying down a few of her Yordle Snap Traps, in a hope to slow the pair. Realising she was further from the safety of her turrets as she had initially thought, she fired her 90 Caliber Net, in a last attempt to close the distance between her and the turrets. She knew what was coming, and there was nothing she could do. She continued to run, though. She could see the turrets were close, and she ran as fast as she could. Except, she couldn't move.

_Well fuck my life!_

Caitlyn had been snared by Ryze, and she was, once again, bombarded with abilities and spells. She could feel the energy seeping away from her, and her vision went fuzzy. Caitlyn sank to her knees, waiting for the inevitable, but it didn't come. She looked up to see Darius, swinging his axe, rather aggressively at Ryze, who immediately backed off. Caitlyn saw him get almost 10 feet away from her before he collapsed and the large, booming voice of the announcer informing everyone that an enemy had been slain.

She looked up at Darius, who had his hand held out for her. Caitlyn took it, and she let Darius help her up.

"Go back to spawn. You need to heal. I'll hold these guys off."

Caitlyn was astonished. She stood and watched Darius for a second, before he turned around and gestured to where their spawn was.

"Go!"

Caitlyn nodded slightly and took off for the blue spawn, where her health and mana would restore. She felt her strength return and bought herself a Guardian Angel and some boots of speed before heading back up the middle lane to the purple spawn, where the rest of her teammates were gathered. She got there just in time to notice Darius was having a hard time getting away from Garen. Darius was managing to fend him off, but only slightly. Caitlyn, knowing she had to pay Darius back in some way, used her keen sense to analyse how much health Garen had left. Low enough for her to hit him with her ult.

_Not today, you fucking shitbag._

Caitlyn lined up the shot perfectly and fired. She had a direct hit in Garen, square between the eyes. Garen's blood sprayed everywhere, Darius whirled around, and saw Caitlyn still crouched, still lining her shot before she stood up. She was shouting something at him, but he obviously couldn't hear her, as he was struck from behind by Ez. Caitlyn immediately shot her Piltover Peacemaker at him, whilst firing her 90 Caliber Net to close the gap between them. She shot him a few times with her basic before firing out the Peacemaker once again, followed by her ultimate, once again, gaining herself a kill. She turned to Darius, held out her hand and smiled.

"I think you need a bit of a heal, mate," she said, giggling, before using her Summoner Heal on them both.

Darius looked at her for a moment. He had said almost the exact same thing to her, except more gruff, and aggressive, and felt bad. Caitlyn was so small and fragile, yet she was so strong and always in a cheerful sort of mood.

She looked him over for a second more before running to the purple nexus and attacked it. The nexus exploded, and the announcer came across, loud and clear:

**_VICTORY!_**

Caitlyn looked at her teammates before the battle field faded away, and she was back in Piltover.


	2. Chapter 2

Caitlyn woke with a start. Vi had come crashing through the door, and had scared the birds away. The sky was a sombre orange, and Caitlyn realised she must have fallen asleep in the yard. She guessed it was around 6 pm.

"Caitlyn! You, uh, you have someone who wants to see you. He's in your office," Vi explained. She looked flustered and Caitlyn may have seen a flash of worry in her eyes. But that didn't bother her.

"Alright, Vi, thanks. You can head home now if you like," Caitlyn replied. She got up from her lounger and stretched, not unlike a cat would. She put her hat back on before picking up her boots and shotgun. The grass was cool under her bare feet as she made her way back into the station and headed for her office.

Caitlyn felt it was rather chilly in the station, and figured one of the other officers had turn on the air conditioning. There was no need for it to be on anymore, so Caitlyn turned it off on the way to her office.

She placed her shoes at the door before she entered. She walked in and almost dropped her shotgun Darius was sitting in one of the chairs across from her desk. She wasn't sure what she expected, but it certainly wasn't the Hand of Noxus. She sat down and placed her shotgun on the desk.

"Well I never thought I'd have the Hand of Noxus sitting in my office," she said with a smirk. "What can I do for you Darius?"

Darius looked at her. He seemed nervous about something, but Caitlyn couldn't figure out what it was.

Darius clasped his hands together.

"Uhm, well, I didn't thank you for helping me yesterday and, you know, it was kind of bothering me so I was like 'fuck it. I'll go thank her tomorrow' and so now I'm here so, uh, thanks, I guess."

"It's no problem. Really. I mean you did the sa-"

Caitlyn was cut off by a large explosion. She bolted to the window to see the theatre being blown to smithereens. Darius stared out the window, unable to move. Caitlyn pushed herself away from the window, grabbed her shotgun and ran outside. Darius had no idea where she'd gone until she ran past the window, barefooted, towards the theatre. Darius followed her. He thought she'd ran straight into the ruins, but he saw her staring at something. He moved over beside her.

"What are you looking at?"

Caitlyn pointed to a figure on the roof. The figure had bright blue hair, and was laughing like a maniac. Darius saw the expression on Caitlyn's face change from a scowl to that of pure rage.

"ARGH!" she cried. Caitlyn began sprinting towards the theatre. She shot her Piltover Peacemaker at the roof before springing up onto a chunk of concrete. She began to scale up the building, with such ease, and she silently thanked all the years she'd spent chasing down criminals. Darius stood and watched her, wide-eyed, an expression astonishment upon his face. He'd never known anyone to climb the way Caitlyn did. It was truly spectacular.

Caitlyn reached the roof and lined up her shot.

_Wait for it… Wait for it…_

Caitlyn hit Jinx just below her shoulder blades. As Jinx turned, Caitlyn fired her Peacemaker at Jinx, knocking her back. Jinx yelled in anguish and fired one of her rockets at Caitlyn. Caitlyn was blasted off the roof. She fell for what felt like an age before she hit the hard ground of the road below. She felt all breath leave her lungs, and her vision blurred. She turned her head and saw Darius running towards her. Worry was written all over his face. He tossed his axe aside before kneeling down beside Caitlyn. She felt him slide his hands under her body and lift her with a gentleness she was unaware he had. She looked at him wearily before her vision left her.


	3. Chapter 3 - Darius' POV

**Author's note: I thought doing a chapter on Darius' point of view on the events of the day would be a nice little addition to the story. (This will be the only time I'll be using a POV chapter in this story, so don't worry too much if you think it was a waste of time)**

Darius held Caitlyn close to his chest as he ran through the back alleys of Piltover. She felt so tiny and fragile in his arms. He wasn't sure where he was going exactly; he just needed to get Caitlyn as far away from Jinx as possible. The alley he was currently running through ended beside a main road. He poked his head around the fence at the end of the alley and looked around. There were next to no cars, and almost no one was out. Darius couldn't see anyone who'd be able to help him; mainly because he was Noxian, and, of course, _someone _would call on the cops for his arrest.

Vi came running towards him from the other end of the street. Darius hadn't noticed her, but she'd obviously noticed him. She came over to him and pulled him to the side.

"What the _fuck_ are you doing?!" she whispered angrily. She was furious, and Darius knew it.

"Well, what did you expect me to do? Just leave her there?" Darius was getting irritated. He had just saved Vi's partner and now she was yelling at him? Some gratitude. "That theatre would've come down on top of her! She could've died!"

Darius stared at Vi waiting for an answer, but none was given. Instead, she looked at him, flabbergasted. Darius took that as an invitation to continue his rant.

"And where were you? She couldn't have taken Jinx on alone, you know that! Even with her quick wits and experience. She'd never have been able to take her. What were you doing?"

"I went home, okay?!" Vi threw her hands up in anger. "Cait told me to go home, and I did. I didn't expect Jinx to turn up, and I was only told about it when it was reported that some bloke came in and carried Caitlyn off." Vi looked at the floor.

"Oh... Well can you help me get her home? I've been running around for a while now and I have no idea where I am," Darius asked.

Vi looked up at him and nodded.

"Of course I can. Follow me," she said and gestured to cross the road.

Darius followed her, still carrying Caitlyn; gently, like she was a baby bird. The two walked for about 20 minutes before the clock tower started to ring.

_BONG! BONG! BONG! BONG! BONG! BONG! BONG! BONG!_

"It's 8 o'clock already?" Darius asked. Vi nodded.

"Mhm," she replied. "You were walking around in circles for a while. I watched you."

Darius made a face at the back of Vi's head, but made no comment. He suspected she was enjoying his being lost in a city he knew nothing of.

They continued past the clock tower, towards the park. A slight breeze pulled at Vi's hair, and Darius' cape. Darius felt Caitlyn shiver. He looked at her, and she turned onto her side slightly, as one does in one's bed when one is cold. He shouted at Vi to stop for a second so he could wrap Caitlyn in his cape to keep her warm. Darius sat down on one of the many benches scattered around a magnificent marble statue of a woman. He wasn't sure who the woman was, but he was sure that she was very beautiful.

Darius positioned Caitlyn so she was sitting on his knee, but so he was supporting her neck. Vi removed his cape and helped him wrap it around Caitlyn. Once he was happy, Darius repositioned Caitlyn and gestured that he and Vi should keep moving.

They walked for a further ten minutes before Vi stopped outside a large, recently built apartment block. She pulled a key out of her pocket and opened the front door. She let Darius through first, and then led him up the stairs to the 6th floor, where Caitlyn's apartment was. She opened the door, and laid the key round about where Caitlyn's stomach was.

"Don't try anything funny, big guy," Vi said with a smirk. "I'll know about it."

She headed back down the stairs, and Darius closed the apartment door. He looked around at the lush apartment. He was impressed at the style and luxurious feel it had. He walked down the only hallway there was, and opened the first door. The room was lavishly decorated, with a woollen carpet and beautiful ornate furniture. Darius saw himself in the mirror on the vanity table holding his damaged bird. He smirked at himself.

_She looks like some freaky burrito, what the fuck?_

"I'm quite the hero, aren't I?" he said to his reflection, and chuckled.

_I'm such a funny guy! _

He moved over to the bed and sat Caitlyn on his knee; her head resting on his shoulder, while he threw the covers to the bottom of the bed. He then laid her down on the mattress and unwrapped her from his cape.

Darius went back to the door and removed his shoes and his armour. He had no clue where to put them, so he just left them by the door. He wondered where his axe was and remembered he'd left it at the theatre.

_For fuck's sake!_

There was no time to get it now. He would get lost. At least he'd remembered to pick up Caitlyn's shotgun before he left. He felt a pang of guilt throw itself over him, or was it a sadness he'd never experienced? Whatever the feeling, he shook it off before heading back through to Caitlyn's room.

Darius lay down on the other side of the bed, feeling small and vulnerable without his armour. He stayed for a moment, before deciding to go fetch his armour from the door, just to make himself more comfortable.

He started rising from the bed, when Caitlyn's hand grabbed his, and caught him off-guard. Caitlyn opened her eyes, sleepily, and murmured something about wanting Darius to stay with her. He stared at her for a moment. She was so angelic and small when she slept, but an altogether different woman during the day when she worked. He pondered for a moment about whether he should stay or not.

Darius decided to stay and lay back down. He reached out for Caitlyn and wrapped his arms around her, bringing her in close to his chest. He grabbed the covers from the foot of the bed and threw them over Caitlyn and himself, wrapping them both in a cocoon of cottons and silks. Caitlyn pressed herself against Darius.

"Thanks for saving me earlier," she whispered. Her voice was so quiet, Darius doubted he'd have heard her if it were busier outside. He smiled.

"It's no problem, really," he whispered back.

"Darius?"

"What is it?"

"I-I have something I want to tell you," Caitlyn whispered as she lifted her head to look into Darius' eyes.

"Hush now, Caitlyn," he replied, putting her hair behind her ear. "Tell me tomorrow."

Darius bent his head and gave Caitlyn a light kiss on her forehead. She nuzzled back into him, and he felt her smile into his chest. He hugged her more tightly now, and made a promise to himself that he would tell her everything in the morning.

The two drifted off to sleep, Darius holding Caitlyn, in his protective embrace, and they slept like that together the whole night.


	4. Chapter 4

Caitlyn woke to the sound of the birds singing outside. She and Darius had slept together, perfectly intertwined with each other. She slid herself out of his arms, and padded her way to the kitchen. She grabbed a handful of strawberries from her fridge, the last two slices of bread from the bread bin and went out onto the balcony. She put the bread on the little table she had out there, and went to lean over the balcony.

The sun had raised high into Piltover's stunning blue sky. Caitlyn looked down onto the streets below, watching the tiny figures of the people below go about their daily business. She went back to the table and got the bread. She crumbled it between her fingers and laid it out on a little bird table she had in the corner. She then picked up her watering can and proceeded to water the various flowers and plants she had growing. She had many hanging baskets beside the sliding doors that led out to the balcony, which held a beautiful crimson flower from Demacia – a gift from Luxanna she had received for her birthday.

She put the watering can back down and went back to the edge of the balcony, where she looked out onto the landscape of her home town. She saw the ruins of the obliterated theatre and felt a pang of guilt. She should have taken Jinx down. She should have done it. Darius would have been so impressed with her, and for the first time maybe he'd be the one who was speechless.

_Goddammit, Caitlyn! Why couldn't you have taken down that whore when you had the chance?_

She looked out at the theatre again, and saw the sun reflecting off of what looked like metal. She squinted her eyes, and leaned further off the railing she was leaning on, as if she could get closer to investigate. But she could!

_Of course!_

She was itching to investigate the strange object. It was an undying lust that she had to investigate all anomalies that were reported, and though it was strong, it was never truly satisfied.

She grabbed her shotgun from where she always left it - the umbrella stand. Except, it wasn't there. Panic ran through Caitlyn as she frantically searched for her beloved shotgun. Where was it? Had she left it somewhere? Caitlyn was just about to break down into a fit of tears when she saw it lying on the sofa, being tossed there the night before. She grabbed it and pulled it close to her chest, hugging it tightly. She kissed the handle, before pulling herself together and setting off for the door.

"Oh, wait. Where are my shoes?"

She looked around for a moment, before shrugging.

"Whatever. I shouldn't be long."

She opened and closed the door as silently as she could, as to not wake the sleeping Darius in her bed. She bolted down the stairs, taking them two at a time, before flying out the door onto the street. Though it was quite late in the morning, there were few people out and about. Caitlyn took no notice, however, and bolted through the park, past the fountain with the marble woman, and to the clock tower. She looked up and had to shield her eyes from the sun to read the clock: 11:27 it read.

She was still looking at the clock when an old man walked past, and pointed out her lack of footwear.

"Why, Miss Caitlyn," he exclaimed. "You have no shoes! Where are they? Were they taken from you by bandits?"

Caitlyn laughed at the man's deep concern for her missing shoes.

"No, Mr White, they haven't been stolen. I had left them at the office yesterday. I'm going to get them just now."

"Well just you watch out now. I heard the Hand of Noxus, Sir Darius, was here in Piltover! You be careful and keep your eyes open for him."

"I will Mr White," she reassured the old man. She waved goodbye as he headed off in the direction she had just come from.

Caitlyn continued on her way to the theatre. She had a few people shout a good morning as she ran past, but there was no time for her to stop and chat. Without the burden of shoes on her feet, she ran must faster then she normally would, and Caitlyn wondered whether she should stop wearing shoes when chasing down law-breakers when she stood on a shard of broken glass.

"Ow! You fucker!" she cried.

She leaned against a wall and eased the glass out of her foot. Immediately, blood welled from the wound and dripped onto the dirt track of the alley.

_Oh for goodness' sake_

Thinking quickly, Caitlyn tore the hem of her dress and made a make-shift bandage from it. She tied it tightly, and put most of her body weight into it.

Not too painful.

She could easily still run. She took off again, slightly slower due to her wound, but still with good pace. She arrived at the theatre within five minutes. She took a moment to evaluate the damage. Easily repairable, what was left would survive, but it would take months to rebuild. She took a moment, but was immediately snapped back to reality. She scouted the area for any clue of what the mysterious object might be. She searched for another ten minutes before giving up. If there was anything, she'd have seen it by now. She started to walk back to her house, when something to her left blinded her.

Caitlyn looked down and saw a pile of rocks and rubble. She began to sift through it, removing the lighter, throwable rocks first, then moving to the heavier, more stubborn boulders.

After a few minutes of manoeuvring rocks, she uncovered an axe. An axe she knew well. This was Darius' axe. It had saved her many times from scary situations.

"What is this doing here?" she wondered aloud.

Caitlyn thought about it for a moment before dismissing it. She had no time to ponder on such little things. She feared what would happen if Darius awoke and she was not there. She went to pick up the axe, but found it would not budge. She tried again, this time it dislodged itself a little. Caitlyn continued to manoeuvre the axe out from between two boulders, until it finally flew out, knocking her back. She fell on the ground, the axe landing on her stomach.

"Holy fuck!" she gasped.

Fearing something had been badly damaged, she felt her stomach area and her ribs. Nothing had been broken, at least. She picked herself up, and gave herself a breather. Getting home would be harder now, seeing as the axe was extremely heavy and she had an injured foot and was badly winded. She also had to accommodate her shotgun. Still, she picked up the axe - with two hands - and started on her way back home. She managed to slide her gun down the back of her dress, but only just. The pain from her earlier injury was only just starting to reach her, and with every step, it grew more and more painful.

Caitlyn only just made it to the park before she could take no more, and slumped onto one of the benches next to the fountain. She limped over to the fountain, dragging the axe behind her, and sat on the edge, her feet dangling in the water. She removed the fabric form her foot and dipped it into the water. The cold, refreshing nature of the water made Caitlyn feel like she was at the beach. When she felt the cut was cleaned, she swirled the torn fabric until all old blood had been washed off, and tied it back onto her foot.

She looked up, and squinted in the sun. Her apartment was only a few minutes away. She went to pick up the axe, and continued to her apartment. Even though the axe was impossibly heavy, she managed to drag it back to the front door to the apartment block. She opened the door and struggled inside.

Caitlyn looked up the middle of the stair case and wished her block had an elevator.

She groaned at the thought of walking up the stairs with such a heavy weapon, but she straightened herself, and started up the stairs. It took her much longer than it usually would have, but that was all to do with the axe.

She arrived at the 4th floor, completely breathless. She sat on the floor and placed the axe next to her. She sat there, the only sounds being her breathing and the birds outside. She picked herself up once more, and prepared herself for the last two flights. She grabbed the axe, and almost ran up the stairs. She reached the 6th floor, and burst through her front door. She ran straight into Darius, who was putting his armour back on.

He grabbed her, and held tight, nuzzling his head into her neck. Caitlyn was taken aback by his sudden embrace.

"D-Darius!"

Darius let her go, and looked into her brilliant blue eyes. She looked back at him confused. Darius ignored her confusion, grabbed her shoulders and pressed his lips against hers. He felt her tense up, not that he cared. This said everything he needed to say.

He pulled away from Caitlyn and looked at her. Her mouth was open and she had a look of absolute bewilderment on her face.

"Darius I-" she started.

"It's okay, Caitlyn. I've had feelings for you for a while now. I just didn't know how to tell you."

Darius looked at the floor. Caitlyn looked at him for a second. She lifted his chin so he was looking at her.

"That's all I've ever needed to hear from you," she said, smiling, before going to kiss Darius again. He pulled her waist, and she wrapped her arms around his neck. And they stood there like that, both intertwined perfectly, lost in their own world.


End file.
